Hungarian army to send liaison officer to US Special Operations Command

The Hungarian Army will send a liaison officer to the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquarters in order to make Hungary's participation in the global special operations network more effective, the army said in a statement on Saturday.

On the last day of his US visit, Defence Minister Istvan Simicsko held talks with commander of US Central Command Joseph Votel and USSOCOM Chief of Staff Marcus Hicks in Tampa, Florida.

Simicsko told his negotiating partners that "we greatly appreciate the logistics support provided by the US army to help Hungary's participation in missions in Iraq and also in Afghanistan," the statement said.

He added that Hungary will continue its participation as long as it is needed, in line with NATO's "in together, out together" principle.

The stability of Afghanistan is especially important to Hungary because Afghanistan is a main source of migration to Europe, Simicsko said.

Votel said it is important to further develop cooperation and expressed appreciation of the Hungarian soldiers' participation in missions, the statement added.